I don't mean to keep spoiling everyone's day...
...And I won't propose to know everything about "catch shares" --but I do know they are not good for the regular fisherman or fishing communities.
I understand catch shares have been in use in the Gulf of Mexico states for a few years now. So, if you have the money, you can catch red snapper. If you don't, you're S.O.L.
And from what I've read, British investors basically own 23% of all clams in U.S. waters.
There are a number of corporations, some posing as an environmental entity, who are positioning themselves to buy up catch shares. If a company like PEW (and it is a lobbying company) buys up catch-shares, they'll be able to use
or not use them or sell/rent them however they like.
We fishermen don't have to agree on everything. Issues can be hammered out later. But when we can agree on the big things concerning our opportunities to fish, we need to stand together.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance --RFA, will not be able to make all recreational fishermen happy all the time. But they are the closest thing that we have to the NRA (and if it weren't for the NRA, we would have lost the right to own a gun a long time ago).
I am an RFA member and so is my business.
Granted, we don't all have the time attend meetings but we can help by joining those who can.
If you haven't joined already, I urge you to do so.
www.joinrfa.org
"If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately." --Benjamin Franklin
